Rich M
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2016
Just got back from a great trip to Disneyland again. We attended the OBP on 9/12 and checked in to the PPH on 9/12 and stayed until 9/14. We flew in to Long Beach Airport at 8 AM and was at PPH by 10 with a stop at Walgreens for room essentials. Our stay at PPH was a complete shock to my family as they had no idea that I booked this for the trip. There was 5 of us and we had two standard rooms at the Magic Key Discount rate. Two of us are Magic Key Holders and and three non magic key holders. Here are my thoughts on both the PPH and OBP.
PPH - I really like how the PPH is coming along. The lobby is beautiful and the gift shop looked great. We never had a wait longer than 1 min for an elevator. My grandson loved the pool area and the slide and was wanting more time there but sadly only got an hour to enjoy it. Half of the hotel seemed to be shut down for the remodel that is going on. When we arrived in the morning our room was not ready but the very nice front desk person was super helpful and even gave my grandson a rice krispy treat which made him super happy after a super early flight. We gave our luggage to the bell desk which only had one person helping and took some time but he was doing a great job. Once our room was ready after being at the park for a couple hours we went back to the room with some Earl of Sandwich for lunch. We called down to the bell desk and waited over 30 mins and never got our luggage. This is even after going to the car to get some stuff we left and saw 5 employees at the bell desk just laughing and joking around. We tried calling down again and it just rang for 10 mins. We finally just went downstairs and got it ourselves as we needed our costumes for the party as it was now 3 PM. That was really the only negative experience we had at PPH. We still love this hotel and love the entrance to DCA. There was never a line to get in there when we went and we even got our OBP wristbands their at 4 PM with no wait at all. Overall I give this place a 9 out of 10 with great service except for the bell desk.
OBP - We entered the party at 4 PM and had a dinner reservation at 4:40 PM. After dinner it was about 5:45 and we had a Webslinger LL so we went to do that and when we got off it was 6 and time to party. We started off at the treat trail right there with about 5 people in line and went through very quickly. We decided to go towards Guardians and did the Ernesto Trail which my grandson and his mom loved. The line looked long but went very quickly. From there we went to Cruella and that line was quick moving also. From there we went Oogie Boogie trail and the line was long but moved very quickly. After that my grandson was already tired and ready to go lol. I went out to the entrance and got him a wheelchair to push him around in since his little legs was done and he is to big for those uncomfortable strollers. The wheelchair honestly saved the night for us since he was happy and was able to make it the rest of the night. From there we went to the trail I was looking forward to the most and the was Judge Doom. there was zero line and we had the best interaction with him as he talked to my grandsons mom for a while. He was by far the very best interaction we had. From there we went to villians groove and my grandson loved it. Line was down to Soarin but moved very quickly. From there we went through the Grizzly trail which had no line. We then got trapped from the parade so used the break for bathroom stops and then after the parade was over went to Sid trail after grabbing our Magic Key bags. No line to get the backs and we skipped the photo. We finished up the trails at Big Hero 6 and Carsland before going on Mater and Luigi a couple times each with no wait and then went to Soarin to finish our night.
Overall OBP - This was our first experience of going to the party with a young child. I will say you can not have the same strategy as an adult only trip. We had to make sure he was comfortable and didn't have melt downs and went at his pace. We got a ton of candy and had a great time. Next time I would make sure we didn't fly in on the day of the party and also maybe skip the park during the day completely so that he would have not been so tired.
Advice - Have a plan of what is important to you and your family to accomplish. Remember that treat trails lines are usually lighter later in the party but if you don't want to jump around everywhere they all move quickly. We did not do character meets as my grandson would not have handled the wait long but remember that those can take a lot of time so if its something you really want to do plan for that. I think my number 1 advice as someone who has gone to the party for the last 4 years is don't stress yourself out to do everything. Take your time to enjoy the extra cost. Prioritise what you want to do and stick with it. Help avoid stress and meltdowns by making sure your kids (and even you) get rest prior. The OBP for me is hands down the very best extra money ticket you can buy so make sure you take time to enjoy it.
I would be happy to answer any questions that anybody has about the party or PPH.
Have a magical day and thanks for reading.
PPH - I really like how the PPH is coming along. The lobby is beautiful and the gift shop looked great. We never had a wait longer than 1 min for an elevator. My grandson loved the pool area and the slide and was wanting more time there but sadly only got an hour to enjoy it. Half of the hotel seemed to be shut down for the remodel that is going on. When we arrived in the morning our room was not ready but the very nice front desk person was super helpful and even gave my grandson a rice krispy treat which made him super happy after a super early flight. We gave our luggage to the bell desk which only had one person helping and took some time but he was doing a great job. Once our room was ready after being at the park for a couple hours we went back to the room with some Earl of Sandwich for lunch. We called down to the bell desk and waited over 30 mins and never got our luggage. This is even after going to the car to get some stuff we left and saw 5 employees at the bell desk just laughing and joking around. We tried calling down again and it just rang for 10 mins. We finally just went downstairs and got it ourselves as we needed our costumes for the party as it was now 3 PM. That was really the only negative experience we had at PPH. We still love this hotel and love the entrance to DCA. There was never a line to get in there when we went and we even got our OBP wristbands their at 4 PM with no wait at all. Overall I give this place a 9 out of 10 with great service except for the bell desk.
OBP - We entered the party at 4 PM and had a dinner reservation at 4:40 PM. After dinner it was about 5:45 and we had a Webslinger LL so we went to do that and when we got off it was 6 and time to party. We started off at the treat trail right there with about 5 people in line and went through very quickly. We decided to go towards Guardians and did the Ernesto Trail which my grandson and his mom loved. The line looked long but went very quickly. From there we went to Cruella and that line was quick moving also. From there we went Oogie Boogie trail and the line was long but moved very quickly. After that my grandson was already tired and ready to go lol. I went out to the entrance and got him a wheelchair to push him around in since his little legs was done and he is to big for those uncomfortable strollers. The wheelchair honestly saved the night for us since he was happy and was able to make it the rest of the night. From there we went to the trail I was looking forward to the most and the was Judge Doom. there was zero line and we had the best interaction with him as he talked to my grandsons mom for a while. He was by far the very best interaction we had. From there we went to villians groove and my grandson loved it. Line was down to Soarin but moved very quickly. From there we went through the Grizzly trail which had no line. We then got trapped from the parade so used the break for bathroom stops and then after the parade was over went to Sid trail after grabbing our Magic Key bags. No line to get the backs and we skipped the photo. We finished up the trails at Big Hero 6 and Carsland before going on Mater and Luigi a couple times each with no wait and then went to Soarin to finish our night.
Overall OBP - This was our first experience of going to the party with a young child. I will say you can not have the same strategy as an adult only trip. We had to make sure he was comfortable and didn't have melt downs and went at his pace. We got a ton of candy and had a great time. Next time I would make sure we didn't fly in on the day of the party and also maybe skip the park during the day completely so that he would have not been so tired.
Advice - Have a plan of what is important to you and your family to accomplish. Remember that treat trails lines are usually lighter later in the party but if you don't want to jump around everywhere they all move quickly. We did not do character meets as my grandson would not have handled the wait long but remember that those can take a lot of time so if its something you really want to do plan for that. I think my number 1 advice as someone who has gone to the party for the last 4 years is don't stress yourself out to do everything. Take your time to enjoy the extra cost. Prioritise what you want to do and stick with it. Help avoid stress and meltdowns by making sure your kids (and even you) get rest prior. The OBP for me is hands down the very best extra money ticket you can buy so make sure you take time to enjoy it.
I would be happy to answer any questions that anybody has about the party or PPH.
Have a magical day and thanks for reading.
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